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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

I'm interrupting my relaxing Christmas break to tell you how much I (and my whole family) love the game The Settlers of Catan! I'm extremely surprised by this, too, since I didn't think I would like it that much. I usually go for fast-paced games or games that take about 30 minutes tops. The Settlers of Catan is long - usually takes about an hour to an hour and 30 minutes to play, but it's pretty fun. Even my 9-year-old daughter loves to play. Goodness, we've probably spent over 10 hours playing this game on our break. :)

The Settlers of Catan is only for up to 4 players, but 3 days after Christmas my son had already bought the 5-6 player extension. It's been fun for all 5 of us to be able to play all at the same time.

The gist in a jiffy- you collect resource cards (wool, wheat, ore, brick, and wood) in order to build roads, settlements, cities and buy other development cards. All of these things give you points which you need in order to win the game. Be the first to reach 10 points and you win!

Obviously, a lot more goes into this game. The instruction booklet is quite a few pages long. Not a plus for me, BUT don't lose heart yet . . . There's a handy dandy app you can download on your phone that will walk you through an introduction game. Made everything so easy!!!

If you've been wondering if this would be a good family game to buy, I highly recommend it!!! Probably best for ages at least 8 & up.

Here's a link to a video that explains the game in a nutshell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw4tIC_cJiE

*You can order the original game and extension separately or order both together! Thanks for using my affiliate link. :)

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Artificial scents and most perfumes tend to bother me. I get headaches and/or my nose gets stuffy. An alternative that works for me for the holidays and everyday are essential oils.

I typically use Young Living oils, and I use them exclusively for internal use. However, in order to be able to afford to make my house smell Christmasy using my diffuser, I browsed the internet for some other essential oil companies. I ordered 3 oils from Plant Guru: vanilla, frankincense, and myrrh and one oil from Eden's Garden: cinnamon.

I already had Young Living peppermint on hand since that is one of my absolute favorites! I use it quite frequently. I also recently received Young Living pine in the mail. In fact, as I am writing this post, I am diffusing a peppermint/pine mixture which smells like a candy cane forest!

Both non Young Living companies have worked out just fine for diffusing. The cinnamon and vanilla blend well together and create a wonderful Christmas aroma. Frankincense has always been a favorite, and I am even using that one in my skincare routine. Every so often I mix a drop of oil in my face moisturizer. This was the first time I had ever smelled myrrh; it reminds me of black licorice a little bit but not as strong. I haven't diffused this one because the smell doesn't wow me and it's a little thicker than the other oils. I am currently finding other uses for it. :)

I really loved that Eden's Garden sent a detailed product guide with my order. The guide explains who they are and why they are able to sell their oils for amazing prices and how they give back to the community. They claim that all of their oils are therapeutic grade as well. An included insert contained 101 Ways To Use Essential Oils.

I am completely happy with my holiday essential oil purchase! If you're looking for all natural scents for Christmas, see the links above and order yours today!

Monday, December 15, 2014

My hubby likes gingerbread men. No frosting. Just classically plain and simple. And they really do have a holidayish feel to them, don't they? I've used a couple of different recipes, but this one is my favorite. The recipe is very easy to make. The dough rolls out well, and cutting out shapes is a snap. Major Christmas baking plus right there! (I can't say these things about my Prize Sugar Cookies, though.)

Tiny gingerbread men make perfectly festive cupcake toppers, too! We took these yummy creations to our homeschool Christmas party. They were totally adorable until my oldest son said it looked like the gingerbread men had been shot with their guts spilling out all over the place. Boys.

My daughter crushed red hots for sprinkling the tops of the cupcakes. Gave the vanilla cake and buttercream frosting a little cinnamon zip!

We've also used these little gingerbread men to adorn gingerbread houses, but we didn't make any this year. Of course, it's always fun to give them frosting faces and cookie decoration buttons. :)

Saturday, December 13, 2014

The other night after wrapping a few "fake" presents to put under the tree for decoration, I surveyed the mess that I had made and decided to get crafty before stowing it back under my bed. An image that I had seen on Pinterest came to mind. I hadn't clicked on it or anything, just remembered seeing it in my feed. I did a quick search on Pinterest, and this is what I found. (In case you wanted to check it out for yourself - lots of cute ideas!)

I still didn't actually click on any of the images because I didn't want to take the time to read instructions, so here's what I used:

Canvas that I already had handy

Several different styles of wrapping paper

Clear tape

Elmer's glue and mod podge

Bow (for the star)

Crumpled brown packing paper that came from a package (for trunk)

Piece of wide burlap ribbon (for trunk)

My goal here was to be as quick as possible, so I didn't measure anything. I just started cutting - here's what I did:

I cut different sized pieces of wrapping paper, rolled them up, and put small pieces of tape on the seams.

I arranged the wrapping paper tubes on my canvas, starting with the biggest on the bottom. I trimmed any edges as necessary.

Once I was happy with my arrangement, I glued the wrapping paper tubes to the canvas, applying the glue to the seam sides. Leave room for a star or a bow!

Glue a bow or a star to the top of the tree.

I used burlap for my tree trunk with brown paper behind it so the white canvas didn't show through. I used mod podge to glue the burlap to the brown paper.

I am happy with the way it turned out. Not bad for a 1 hour project. :)

Sunday, December 07, 2014

Today I am excited to introduce you to Mimi who is guest posting about a product that I've heard people raving about. I've never used these particular Rodan + Fields skin products, but I have used Rodan + Fields Proactiv for about 8 years now. It's the ONLY thing that I've found that helps me have clear skin!

If you've been looking for a skin care regimen that can help your skin look and feel its best, check out what Mimi has to say. Be sure to check out her website and a deal going on right now listed below. :)

Changing Skin, Changing Lives

Do you ever look in the mirror and wonder who is looking
back at you?Me too!My skin used to be riddled with sun damage and melasma (pregnancy
mask).My cute freckles had turned into
ugly splotches and they were everywhere – on my face, neck, chest and
arms.I tried several products to fade
the spots with no success.Instead, I
covered my uneven skin tone and spots with lots of foundation and never left
the house without make-up.

Earlier this year, one of my girlfriends introduced me to
Rodan + Fields skincare products.The
same doctors who created Proactiv formulated products to deal with a multitude
of skin concerns…and one of them was sun-damage.I’ve been using the REVERSE Regimen and Skin
Lightening Accelerator Pack since September and I feel like a new person!My
skin glows again and I am comfortable leaving the house without gobs of
make-up!

If you have sensitive skin, Rodan + Fields can help you.

If you have adult acne, Rodan +Fields can help you.

If you have sun damage, dark spots or melasma, Rodan + Fields can help you.

If you have enlarged pores, wrinkles and loss of firmness, Rodan + Fields can
help you.

Check out these Before & After
Photos
Take a look at how amazing this woman looks after using our REDEFINE Regimen with one of our
skincare tools, the AMP MD Roller, for wrinkles and loss of firmness.

This
young lady erased all kinds of sun damage by using our REVERSE Regimen.She looks
incredible!

This beautiful young lady calmed her irritated skin with our
SOOTHE Regimen.

Just look at the difference our UNBLEMISH Regimen made in this before and after photo!

Changing the way your skin looks can change the way you feel
about yourself!That’s why our company
tagline is, “Changing Skin, Changing Lives”.If you want to feel better in your own skin, e-mail me at MimiShef@yahoo.com.

Friday, December 05, 2014

No trip back to Tennessee would be complete without visiting the Collierville Town Square which was recently voted as "America's Best Main Street." This place holds countless memories for me and my family.

I remember my family shopping in some of the antique stores here when I was a kid. I didn't enjoy the shopping so much then, but I liked going into the store with all the cats. When I got a little older, I'd walk to the Square with my friends and buy candy in the store that had an original soda fountain. I loved attending the annual Fair on the Square in May (I think) and watching the Christmas parade in December. We even attended the beautiful white church on the corner for a while. I think it serves mostly as a little museum and restaurant now.

I know it's not the building that matters, but oh how I sometimes wish I went to a building that looked like this every Sunday!

My boys have special Collierville Town Square Memories, too. Mullin LOVED trains, so we'd come here and look at the trains. We even celebrated his 3rd birthday on one of the train cars. Of course the theme was Thomas the Train! Grandpa (my dad) would take the boys to story time on the train and they'd eat at Café Grill quite a bit. They had amazing fried dill pickles!

Shops filled with Christmas glitz and glam were a feast for the eyes! I think I'd like to have a tree in my bedroom like the one pictured below. :) Every time I see a nutcracker I think of Lincoln since he likes them so much. Loved the bright colors on this one and the had that could open - never seen one like that before. Didn't buy it, though. Actually, we were good and didn't buy anything! Tempting for sure.

This place is definitely a quaint spot full of character and simple beauty. Glad we went, and glad Shiloh now knows what we are talking about when we talk about the Collierville Town Square.

A Collierville trip isn't complete without driving by my old house that I grew up in. I was probably in fifth or sixth grade when we moved into this house, and I left when I married Mark. :)

Wednesday, December 03, 2014

While we were in Tennessee last week, my baby girl had the BEST time cuddling and playing with Paw and Cici's super sweet golden doodles. She looks right cozy in her element. ;)

It was so neat getting to know the dogs' different personalities. Anderson and Cooper are brothers, and Cooper is the white one who loves his toys and can jump pretty high! Anderson is a bit fluffier and is a little more laid back. Both are adorable. They even won me over, and I don't consider myself an animal lover by any means. I've never really liked poodles, either, but these dogs were pretty amazing. The best behaved dogs I've ever been around!

Tuesday, December 02, 2014

On my family's recent trip to Tennessee, my kids pulled a classic out of their grandparents' game closet to help pass the time while we waited for our lost luggage to arrive: Scrabble Crossword Game.

I think Scrabble is an okay game, but I am not super great at it. I prefer games that are fast-paced. When my daughter brought out Spot Itfrom the closet and asked me to play, I was like, "Alright, I guess."

Oh my! Y'all (Sorry, I just spent an entire week hearing this word again!), I gots me a new favorite game! ;) It's fast, fun, and I get to win a lot. Yippee!

Here's the gist of it: Each player receives one card with little pictures all over it. From the main deck of cards that is positioned face down, a player draws the top card and flips it over. The first player to call out a matching image on his own card gets to keep the card. This continues until all the cards are gone. Player with the most cards wins. I wish I'd taken pictures of the actual game, but I was too busy winning playing.

There are a few variations to the game, but this is how our family played most of the time. Loads of fun for the whole family! It would make a great under $10 stocking stuffer for your kids or gift for any other person on your list this Christmas. :) (Sorry in advance to all of my relatives.)

As I was researching this game, I saw that there were all kinds of Spot It! games. I'd never even heard of it before. Cool. I want the Holidays one!

Happy Shopping! (I went way over my exclamation point quota in this post, but I truly loved this game.)

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate links! It doesn't cost you a thing, but it helps put a few cents in my Amazon account. :)Linked to WFMW

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About Me

Brandi is the wife of the one and only Ragamuffinwriter and home school mom to three precious children. She lived in Memphis, TN for 21 years, but now resides in the hot, dry Arizona desert.
Brandi Raae is a place for her to store her thoughts, archive her family's life, share her faith, reminisce days gone by, compile yummy recipes, review amazing products, and write about all things homeschool.